Young artist Betija Jakaite works with illustration and animation, creating relatable characters that portray the balancing act of everyday life. She is the author of illustrations for our Support & Opportunities section. In the Nice Touch column, Betija talks about one of her favourite drawing techniques.
«I discovered one of my favourite tools when I was looking for a solution for drawing digitally without any additional devices, such as a tablet. I want to be able to draw anywhere, just by opening my computer. A tablet not only takes up space but also makes it difficult to quickly set up and pack up my workstation.
I couldn’t really draw in detail with the computer’s touchpad, and then, clicking through the Photoshop tools, I found the polygon lasso, which creates a drawing using line segments. Unlike a brush or a regular lasso, the drawing does not have to be completed with a single mouse stroke — this allows me to develop the drawing gradually. Sometimes I feel like a sculptor carving out a block of marble — at first, I create a very rough outline of the desired silhouette with just a few clicks, and then I use the same polygon lasso to delete areas, gradually developing the details of the illustration.»
Betija Jakaite is a third-year student in the Motion. Image. Sound. programme at the Art Academy of Latvia. Although she has worked across various creative fields, her main interests lie in illustration and animation, where she enjoys experimenting with different tools and materials. At the moment, she is particularly fascinated by paper and hole punchers. Betija is the author of educational animated films about the Baltars workshop and contemporary design, created for the Museum of Decorative Arts and Design’s education classes. In addition, Betija is part of the team behind Sābrs, a festival dedicated to zines and small publishers. For FOLD’s Support & Opportunities section, she has created a series of characters that combine various creative professions and depict the constant juggling that creative professionals often face throughout their careers.
Viedokļi